Left, Right & Centre

As the opposition shouts him down in parliament, the Prime Minister tears into the Congress party and the Nehru-Gandhi family, blaming them for Partition and more. Was this a nervous or a combative PM Modi? Who is on the backfoot today - the government or the opposition?

One of the most important elections of this year is about to begin in Karnataka. The campaign has already started. This is Congress' do or die election as they have very few state governments left with them. In a tell all interview to NDTV, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah spells out his strategy to counter the BJP's Hindutva narrative.

From its trouble with allies to the bypoll jolt - do early general elections really suit the BJP? We discuss the speculation and what it really means.

India bid farewell to the four bravehearts who lost their lives in Pakistani shelling across the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday. As the firing escalates along the border, what can be done to stop this cycle of violence? Are more surgical strikes the answer? Or dialogue? What will it take to end this?

At the launch of his book 'Speaking Truth To Power', former finance minster P Chidambaram said that opposition will unite against the BJP for the 2019 elections and put up a formidable challenge.

India's pre-budget economic report, the annual Economic Survey has predicted that India would have the fastest growing major economy in the coming fiscal, but it has also flagged job creation as a pressing concern and hints that this will be a key focus of Budget 2018. New data derived from Employees' Provident Fund Organisation accounts suggests that contrary to the jobless-growth narrative, at least seven million jobs were created annually. But this flies in the face of other reports, like a CMIE report that says 1.5 million jobs were lost in the quarter right after demonetisation and another 0.4 million in May-June 2017. The government's own figures put out by the Labour Bureau in its Quarterly Employment Survey also paint a somewhat dismal picture.

The Union Home Ministry has asked for a report from the Uttar Pradesh government on the communal clashes in western Uttar Pradesh's Kasganj town, and the subsequent violence and arson. The city continues to remain tense with more attempts to disrupt peace, despite a heavy police presence. Ironically, adding fuel to the fire are senior BJP leaders with a series of provocative statements, dishing out theories that have already been debunked by the BJP led UP government and the state police force.

In the run up to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's Budget on Thursday, the economic survey confirms that there are indeed a number of problems for the Indian farmer and urgent steps are needed to address it. We discuss, what can the government do to address the issues.

As communal tension singes Uttar Pradesh's Kasganj, we ask if these incidents will only simmer in the run up to 2019. Will India ever come out of the cycle of riots?